PRESS RELEASE EXPANSION OF THE LIST OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN KAZAKHSTAN

June 30, 2023 Almaty

By the decision of the Expert Council of June 30, 2023, the following persons were recognized as political prisoners:

Zhylanbaev Marat, leader of the unregistered opposition party “Alga, Kazakhstan!”, activist, well-known marathon runner. On May 24, 2023nby decision of the body of the pre-trial investigation the actions of M. Zhylanbaev were qualified under article 405, Part 2, Article 258, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Starting from 2022 he could not register the opposition party “Alga, Kazakhstan!”. He was a candidate for deputy of the Majilis in March 2023 elections.

Sembay Askar is a civic activist from the city of Astana. On May 12, 2023, he was detained by the police for «participation in the activities of a prohibited organization. A decision on the qualification of his act under Article 405 Part 2 of the Criminal Code was made on May 13, 2023. Since 2019, A. Sembay has been participating in peaceful protests calling for respect for human rights, and has been persecuted by law enforcement agencies. He has been repeatedly subjected to administrative arrests and fines for expressing his opinions and beliefs, and for exercising the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
Bashanov Zhandarbek, a civic activist from Uralsk, was detained on May 17, 2023 and taken to the temporary detention facility of the Uralsk city police department; the acts of Zh. Bashanov were qualified under Article 405, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the RK by a resolution of the body of the pre-trial investigation on May 19, 2023.

Altayev Nurzhan, leader of the unregistered party “El Tiregi”, former Vice-Minister of Agriculture, Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Security of the RK and former deputy of the Majilis of the Parliament of the RK. On June 07, 2023 he was recognized as a suspect in a criminal case. The deeds of Altayev N.B. were qualified under Article 366, Part 4 of the criminal code of the RK. On several occasions Nurzhan Altayev has been subjected to administrative arrests of 15 days for violation of the rules of organization of peaceful assemblies..

Kanatov Nurlan, blogger, civic activist, and public figure from the city of Taraz. He is a holder of the Order of “Kurmet”. Kanatov was detained and placed in the TDF on February 7, 2023; his deeds were qualified under Part 3 of Article 419 of the Criminal Code of the RK (deliberately false denunciation).

Danebaev Timur was found guilty under Article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan by a judgment of June 15, 2023. He was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment. After the events of January, in February 2022, Danebaev has filed a statement with the police, calling for the President of the country to be brought to justice. He believed that the president had disseminated inaccurate information by claiming that “20,000 terrorists” attacked Almaty.
Mukhammedkarim Duman, journalist, author of “Ne Deidi” channel on YouTube. Acts of D.Mukhammedkarim were qualified under Part 1 of Article 258 and Part 2 of Article 405 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on June 22, 2023. D.Mukhammedkarim covered January events, along with the trials of the persons who were detained after these events. He criticized the government and spoke openly about corruption.

Brief information about the persons on the list:

Zhylanbaev Marat (Astana) was detained on May 23, 2023, the day when he finished serving a 20-day administrative arrest. A search was carried out at Zhylanbaev’s place of residence. On the 25th of May, 2022 the specialized examining courts of Astana authorized preventive punishment for M. Zhylanbaev in the form of detention for a period of up to two months until the 23rd of July, 2023. Marat Zhylanbaev, who is widely acclaimed as a super marathon runner, has in recent years criticized the authorities and participated in protests. For this he has been repeatedly brought to administrative responsibility in the form of administrative fines and administrative arrests from 15 to 20 days. Since 2022 he has been refused registration of the opposition party “Alga, Kazakhstan!” for more than 17 times.

Sembay Askar (Astana) was detained by the police on May 12, 2023 and taken to the pre-trial detention facility. He has been held criminally liable for “participation in the activities of a prohibited organization”. On May 13, 2023, the examining court of Astana chose a measure of restraint in the form of detention for a period of 2 months. He was repeatedly detained for participation in protest rallies. Specifically, on the 24th of July, 2020, Sembay was subjected to administrative arrest for 15 days for participation in the “As beru” in the village of Talapker because of the death of civic activist D. Agadil in the detention center.
Bashanov Zhandarbek, civic activist (Uralsk). On the 17th of May, 2023, he was detained and taken to the temporary detention facility of the Uralsk city police department. On May 19, 2023, by a decision of the body of the pre-trial investigation, the deeds of Zh. Bashanov were qualified under Article 405, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the RK. On May 19, 2023, the examining court of the city of Uralsk refused to authorize a preventive measure in the form of detention. Nevertheless, the prosecutor’s office lodged a protest and the court of appeal cancelled the ruling of the investigative court and Bashanov was taken into custody. Currently, he is being held in a pre-trial detention center.

Altayev Nurzhan (Astana city). On June 7, 2023, he was recognized as a suspect in a criminal case, detained and taken to the TDF of the Department of Police of Astana. On June 9, 2023, the Specialized Inter-district Investigative Court of the city of Astana authorized a measure of restraint in the form of detention for a period of 2 months. In 2020 he was excluded from the ruling party “Nur Otan” (now “Amanat”). In 2021 N. Altayev staged unauthorized rallies in Astana, calling for the government’s resignation. On the night of April 12, 2023, N. Altayev was arrested for 15 days in Astana due to a video that was posted in the social networks. Part of the oil workers from Zhanaozen, who had been detained near the Ministry of Energy, were taken there in the evening of April 11. On March 19, 2023, Altayev ran for a seat in the Majilis in a single-mandate constituency in Turkestan region.

Kanatov Nurlan, a blogger, has actively raised questions of corruption related to the work of the Zhambyl Oblast Police Department. He was the Head of the Youth Resource Center in Taraz. During the events of January 2022 he has signed an appeal to the Akim of the region with a demand to withdraw troops from the city, after the January events he helped to compile the list of dead, and on March 19, 2023 he had been planning to run for a seat in the Majilis of the Parliament in a single-mandate constituency, but he was detained the day before the elections.

Danebaev Timur by the judgment of the interdistrict criminal court of Astana city dated 15.06.2023 was declared guilty according to article 174 of the Criminal Code of the RK “Incitement of social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious hatred” and he was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment. During the judicial debate the state prosecutor asked for 4.5 years of the suspended sentence with the establishment of the probation supervision, however the court has appointed the punishment in the form of the actual imprisonment. Currently the lawyer has submitted an appeal. Neither Danebaev’s family nor Timur himself agree with the judgment of the court.

Mukhammedkarim Duman, a journalist, was serving his third administrative arrest of 25 days for calls to rallies. On June 22, 2023 his status was changed from a witness entitled to protection to a suspect in the case under investigation. On the day of his release from the TDF, he was detained for 48 hours and the examining court of the Iliysk district authorized a measure of restraint in the form of 2 months in custody. He was repeatedly sentenced to administrative arrests ranging from 15 to 25 days. Mukhammedkarim Duman has run as a candidate for the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Expert Council considers Articles 174, 258 and 405 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan as “political”, which allow prosecuting opposition politicians and civil activists who have not called for violence, have carried out peaceful protest activities and exercised their rights to freedom of speech and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association and political involvement.

In cases of criminal prosecution of opposition politicians or civic activists, journalists and human rights defenders under other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Expert Council considers their status as political prisoners in the context of the presence of signs of political motivation for their criminal prosecution, as long as the authorities during the pre-trial investigation and trial in compliance with all standards of fair and impartial trial prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and exclude any assumption that their prosecution is associated with opposition political, journalistic, human rights activities or civic engagement.

Expert Council:

Galym Ageleuov

Lukpan Akhmedyarov

Zauresh Battalova

Gulmira Birzhanova

Anara Ibraeva

Yevgeniy Zhovtis

Yerlan Kaliev

BakhytzhanToregozhina

June 30, 2023, Almaty

https://tirek.info/press-release-expansion-of-the-list-of-political-prisoners-in-kazakhstan-3/